Announcement: Tradehill is back

[andrewbadr]

This is great! Congrats Jered!

[1713885473]

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[1713885473]

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[1713885473]

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[Jered Kenna (TradeHill)]

Oh man, I missed you guys. Tradehill was always my preferred exchange, and my trust for Jered went WAY up when they closed down and refunded ALL the money. No way Mtgox could do that, IMHO.

Welcome back!

Are you guys going to be at the bitcoin conference in May?

Thanks, I enjoyed our conversations in the early days before the real world got interested in Bitcoin. Glad to be back as well.\
We plan on being there in May.

What is your definintion of an "accredited investor"?  I am familiar with the SEC's definition, but it seems really restrictive for the bitcoin crowd, SEC definition copied below:

1. a bank, insurance company, registered investment company, business development company, or small business investment company;

2. an employee benefit plan, within the meaning of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, if a bank, insurance company, or registered investment adviser makes the investment decisions, or if the plan has total assets in excess of $5 million;

3. a charitable organization, corporation, or partnership with assets exceeding $5 million;

4. a director, executive officer, or general partner of the company selling the securities;

5. a business in which all the equity owners are accredited investors;

6. a natural person who has individual net worth, or joint net worth with the person’s spouse, that exceeds $1 million at the time of the purchase, excluding the value of the primary residence of such person;

7. a natural person with income exceeding $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with a spouse exceeding $300,000 for those years and a reasonable expectation of the same income level in the current year; or

8. a trust with assets in excess of $5 million, not formed to acquire the securities offered, whose purchases a sophisticated person makes.

We're going with the SEC's definition.
The short answer is "the lawyers told us to".

Welcome back Jered! Dealing with your exchange was always pleasant.

Can you elaborate a little on what your goals are with Prime? B2B is a little vague, as many small businesses have less BTC traffic than a hobbyist daytrader.

Prime isn't really aimed at the small volume traders, the goal is to provide the best experience possible for the biggest users of Bitcoin.
We're going to release other products that everyone can use soon. This is our starting point.

For small business use I'm a huge fan of Bitpay and use them myself. That's not something we plan on competing with, they do a great job.


Jered

[kbroadfoot]

Jared,

you had a great exchange and I am glad you are back BUT I still need access to my old bitcoin address at the old tradehill...
I am User 472 on the bitcoin pyramid wich was a tradehill acount address... ( I stupidly used you as a wallet )
User 472 is the top earner at that site and you are still getting the cashing and are spending it... Can I please have it back?
I was kbroadfoot there and the address was 1JLqki98QMmP9kcv9CAuaJ8XMg4LSuNXf1

Can I have THAT particular address back for you new relaunch at least? The pyramid will not let me change payout addresses.

Thanks in Advance...

( My mom also had the same situation at obroadfoot ) please help us both...

[Jered Kenna (TradeHill)]

Jared,

you had a great exchange and I am glad you are back BUT I still need access to my old bitcoin address at the old tradehill...
I am User 472 on the bitcoin pyramid wich was a tradehill acount address... ( I stupidly used you as a wallet )
User 472 is the top earner at that site and you are still getting the cashing and are spending it... Can I please have it back?
I was kbroadfoot there and the address was 1JLqki98QMmP9kcv9CAuaJ8XMg4LSuNXf1

Can I have THAT particular address back for you new relaunch at least? The pyramid will not let me change payout addresses.

Thanks in Advance...

( My mom also had the same situation at obroadfoot ) please help us both...

Shoot me an email at claim@tradehill.com
This is going to take a lot longer to look in to.

Also I have the old keys in cold storage and it looks like someone is  pulling the coins out of your address.
That  isn't me so you might have the wrong address listed here.

Regards,
Jered

[Littleshop]

Businesses and accredited investors can apply to join Prime starting today.
After the user's identity is verified, every client will receive a $75 credit to
test trading. Clients will be invited to fully activate their account with a
deposit of at least $10,000 USD, 200 bitcoins, or $5,000 in Mt. Gox codes.

I was a member of the original Tradehill and did most of my trading there until you closed.  It looks like you are not working with smaller accounts at this time, am I reading this correctly?

[tvbcof]

March 18, 2013

San Francisco, CA - Tradehill, the first American Bitcoin Exchange, relaunched
today.

...

It's a pleasant surprise to see you guys back!

I have to take exception in two ways to this statement.  My understanding was that ~weex's thing was the first American exchange.  Also, I signed up for Tradehill-I back in the day because I thought it was Chilean.

---

For newer readers:  When Tradehill shut down I had somewhere in the $1500 range USD in my account...waiting for a drop under $2/BTC which never came...yet.  Tradehill dutifully cut me a check in a timely manner with no fuss and no BS about needing to send additional documentation.  I decided that if the opportunity came along again I would do business with them, and am delighted that I may be able to do so.

[Jered Kenna (TradeHill)]

Businesses and accredited investors can apply to join Prime starting today.
After the user's identity is verified, every client will receive a $75 credit to
test trading. Clients will be invited to fully activate their account with a
deposit of at least $10,000 USD, 200 bitcoins, or $5,000 in Mt. Gox codes.

I was a member of the original Tradehill and did most of my trading there until you closed.  It looks like you are not working with smaller accounts at this time, am I reading this correctly?

We're going to offer additional products for smaller accounts soon. There are a few reasons that we're doing it this way.
I very clearly remember working with you and I'm excited to do it again as soon as we can offer it.

March 18, 2013

San Francisco, CA - Tradehill, the first American Bitcoin Exchange, relaunched
today.

...

It's a pleasant surprise to see you guys back!

I have to take exception in two ways to this statement.  My understanding was that ~weex's thing was the first American exchange.  Also, I signed up for Tradehill-I back in the day because I thought it was Chilean.

---

For newer readers:  When Tradehill shut down I had somewhere in the $1500 range USD in my account...waiting for a drop under $2/BTC which never came...yet.  Tradehill dutifully cut me a check in a timely manner with no fuss and no BS about needing to send additional documentation.  I decided that if the opportunity came along again I would do business with them, and am delighted that I may be able to do so.

There is a little bit of confusion regarding who was the first US exchange. I had the idea to start Tradehill when I was living in Chile (I'm a US citizen). I started it with two other US citizens and one Chilean.
One of the other guys was living in the US at the time, one was mostly in Chile but traveling between the two countries. Shortly after we went live I moved back to the US. The company was formed in the US as well.
I hope that clarifies it a little. It's somewhere in between but more US. I did have the honor of explaining Bitcoin to the Chilean version of the IRS though.

Jered

[bbit]

Dude, so awesome! welcome back TH! 

[bzzard]

Can't find any info on the public API. Do you guys have one already?

[Deafboy]

What about bitcoin.com? Is it still part of your business plan?

[repentance]

A couple of questions.  You're talking about offering a "product" to "accredited investors".  Does this mean you're adopting the stance that Bitcoin is a security?

Also, it might be worth outlining here the process customers will need to go through to verify that they meet the "accredited investor" criteria.

As USD MtGox codes can't be generated after April, will you be accepting MtGox codes for other currencies as long as their value is over USD 5,000?

[SgtSpike]

A couple of questions.  You're talking about offering a "product" to "accredited investors".  Does this mean you're adopting the stance that Bitcoin is a security?

Also, it might be worth outlining here the process customers will need to go through to verify that they meet the "accredited investor" criteria.

As USD MtGox codes can't be generated after April, will you be accepting MtGox codes for other currencies as long as their value is over USD 5,000?

This is the criteria to meet:

1. a bank, insurance company, registered investment company, business development company, or small business investment company;

2. an employee benefit plan, within the meaning of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, if a bank, insurance company, or registered investment adviser makes the investment decisions, or if the plan has total assets in excess of $5 million;

3. a charitable organization, corporation, or partnership with assets exceeding $5 million;

4. a director, executive officer, or general partner of the company selling the securities;

5. a business in which all the equity owners are accredited investors;

6. a natural person who has individual net worth, or joint net worth with the person’s spouse, that exceeds $1 million at the time of the purchase, excluding the value of the primary residence of such person;

7. a natural person with income exceeding $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with a spouse exceeding $300,000 for those years and a reasonable expectation of the same income level in the current year; or

8. a trust with assets in excess of $5 million, not formed to acquire the securities offered, whose purchases a sophisticated person makes.

Basically, only open to rich people?

[Jered Kenna (TradeHill)]

A couple of questions.  You're talking about offering a "product" to "accredited investors".  Does this mean you're adopting the stance that Bitcoin is a security?

Also, it might be worth outlining here the process customers will need to go through to verify that they meet the "accredited investor" criteria.

As USD MtGox codes can't be generated after April, will you be accepting MtGox codes for other currencies as long as their value is over USD 5,000?

This is the criteria to meet:

1. a bank, insurance company, registered investment company, business development company, or small business investment company;

2. an employee benefit plan, within the meaning of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, if a bank, insurance company, or registered investment adviser makes the investment decisions, or if the plan has total assets in excess of $5 million;

3. a charitable organization, corporation, or partnership with assets exceeding $5 million;

4. a director, executive officer, or general partner of the company selling the securities;

5. a business in which all the equity owners are accredited investors;

6. a natural person who has individual net worth, or joint net worth with the person’s spouse, that exceeds $1 million at the time of the purchase, excluding the value of the primary residence of such person;

7. a natural person with income exceeding $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with a spouse exceeding $300,000 for those years and a reasonable expectation of the same income level in the current year; or

8. a trust with assets in excess of $5 million, not formed to acquire the securities offered, whose purchases a sophisticated person makes.

Basically, only open to rich people?

The U.S. has different roles for accredited investors (rich people). I don't like it but the lawyers are saying at this point we need to do it this way.
We're working on an alternative and will announce that as soon as we have it ready.

Very nice, looking forward to seeing LTC

We'll take a good look at it and make a decision before too long.
We spent a lot of time preparing for this from a legal / tech perspective so we'll be able to add features quickly.

Can't find any info on the public API. Do you guys have one already?

I went ahead and put it on the second post of this thread just now.
Thanks for asking.

What about bitcoin.com? Is it still part of your business plan?

Not currently, we don't own it or have access to it.

A couple of questions.  You're talking about offering a "product" to "accredited investors".  Does this mean you're adopting the stance that Bitcoin is a security?

Also, it might be worth outlining here the process customers will need to go through to verify that they meet the "accredited investor" criteria.

As USD MtGox codes can't be generated after April, will you be accepting MtGox codes for other currencies as long as their value is over USD 5,000?

The "product" is referring to the service provided and not BTC it's self. We're not going to consider it a security before the SEC or appropriate body says that it is.

We'll provide more information regarding requirements to use the Prime soon. We're ramping up invites and adding people.

The minimum requirement for Mt Gox codes is to open an account. Once an account has been opened there won't be a minimum.
When we add other countries we will most likely accept codes in those currencies as well.

Jered

[toffoo]

50.49 bid, 50 offer?  How soon can I sign up?

[Jered Kenna (TradeHill)]

50.49 bid, 50 offer?  How soon can I sign up?

We import some of the order book from Mt Gox.
Right now their connection is going on and off and when that happens it can take a moment to sync.
We'll be getting away from this and as our volume increases it won't be an issue.

Jered

[repentance]

Jered, how will the latest guidance from FinCEN affect your plans?  While limiting participation to accredited investors overcomes risks associated with offering unregulated securities, the FinCEN guidance statement makes pretty clear that Bitcoin exchanges operating within the US will be regarded as both exchangers and money transmitters and subject to the regulatory requirements which apply to those types of financial services providers.  This obviously imposes a significant financial and administrative burden on any US exchange as neither licensing nor compliance are cheap.  Is Prime in a position to meet those additional burdens?

[Jered Kenna (TradeHill)]

Jered, how will the latest guidance from FinCEN affect your plans?  While limiting participation to accredited investors overcomes risks associated with offering unregulated securities, the FinCEN guidance statement makes pretty clear that Bitcoin exchanges operating within the US will be regarded as both exchangers and money transmitters and subject to the regulatory requirements which apply to those types of financial services providers.  This obviously imposes a significant financial and administrative burden on any US exchange as neither licensing nor compliance are cheap.  Is Prime in a position to meet those additional burdens?

Well written question.

We assumed this was going to happen (not on launch day though) and had it in mind while we set everything up with the lawyers.
Without giving too much away with what's going on in the back end we were ready for it.

Personally I see it as progress. We've all been waiting for acknowledgement and clarification.
It's going to be really interesting to see what comes out of it and who it affects.
I'm watching very closely.

Regards,
Jered

[honeybadger]

Paying back:  Most of the clients have been paid back. If you haven't gotten paid back send an email to claim@tradehill.com
I still get people that simply hadn't checked it in a year etc  I've got funds and I'm using them to make people whole.

I'm one of your former clients who had a small amount of USD left in my account when you closed.
I can't remember the exact amount but it was less than $100. Still, I would like to have it back.

Do you still have details of my former account?
All the info I have is my account login and password.

[🏰 TradeFortress 🏰]

Said to death but welcome back, we need more competition!

[SgtSpike]

A couple of questions.  You're talking about offering a "product" to "accredited investors".  Does this mean you're adopting the stance that Bitcoin is a security?

Also, it might be worth outlining here the process customers will need to go through to verify that they meet the "accredited investor" criteria.

As USD MtGox codes can't be generated after April, will you be accepting MtGox codes for other currencies as long as their value is over USD 5,000?

This is the criteria to meet:

1. a bank, insurance company, registered investment company, business development company, or small business investment company;

2. an employee benefit plan, within the meaning of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, if a bank, insurance company, or registered investment adviser makes the investment decisions, or if the plan has total assets in excess of $5 million;

3. a charitable organization, corporation, or partnership with assets exceeding $5 million;

4. a director, executive officer, or general partner of the company selling the securities;

5. a business in which all the equity owners are accredited investors;

6. a natural person who has individual net worth, or joint net worth with the person’s spouse, that exceeds $1 million at the time of the purchase, excluding the value of the primary residence of such person;

7. a natural person with income exceeding $200,000 in each of the two most recent years or joint income with a spouse exceeding $300,000 for those years and a reasonable expectation of the same income level in the current year; or

8. a trust with assets in excess of $5 million, not formed to acquire the securities offered, whose purchases a sophisticated person makes.

Basically, only open to rich people?

The U.S. has different roles for accredited investors (rich people). I don't like it but the lawyers are saying at this point we need to do it this way.
We're working on an alternative and will announce that as soon as we have it ready.

To be quite honest, I don't see this as a bad thing.  It'll make it, at least initially, a much more serious platform for investors with big money.  It'll draw interest from them since it is catered to them.  We already have plenty of exchanges to trade small amounts of money on.  Big players don't really have anyplace to call home (currently).

I think the biggest problem you will have is providing liquidity for those big players.  Who is going to sell to them?  Perhaps other exchanges?  One of the few "Bitcoin millionaires" around?